Green Lantern (film)
Green Lantern is a film scheduled to start shooting in Spring 2009 and due to be released June 17, 2011. It is set to feature Hal Jordan becoming the Green Lantern. Synopsis In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan. Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax… he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all. Cast *Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan / Green Lantern *Blake Lively as Carol Ferris *Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond *Mark Strong as Sinestro *Tim Robbins as Senator Hammond *Temuera Morrison as Abin Sur *Taika Waititi as Thomas Kalmaku *Jenna Craig as Young Carol Ferris *Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller *Jay O. Sanders as Carl Ferris *Gattlin Griffith as Young Hal Jordan *Marcela Duarte as "Beautiful Girl" *Jon Tenney as Martin Jordan Production History Development In early 1997, Warner Bros. approached cult filmmaker and comic book writer Kevin Smith, who had then just finished writing Superman Lives, to script a Green Lantern film. Smith turned down the offer, believing there were other suitable candidates to make a Green Lantern movie.[16] Warner Bros. eventually changed the direction of the film into that of a comedy; by June 2006, Robert Smigel had completed a script which was set to star Jack Black in the lead role. However, the studio dropped the comedy idea due to poor fan reaction on the Internet.[17] In an attempt to change the tone of Green Lantern to be taken more seriously, Zack Snyder was approached to direct, but he turned down the offer due to his commitment on Watchmen (2009).[18] Actor-writer Corey Reynolds, a comic book fan and personal fan of the John Stewart character, pitched Warner Bros. an idea for a trilogy, with him starring as John Stewart and performing screenwriting duties. Reynolds intended to introduce Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern Corps and Justice League in possible sequels.[19] He finished the script for Green Lantern: Birth of a Hero in June 2007, receiving positive feedback from Warner Bros. with a potential 2010 release date.[20] However, the studio abandoned Reynolds' concept, and in October 2007, Greg Berlanti signed to direct/co-write the film. The decision was made to have Hal Jordan as the protagonist instead of John Stewart. Comic book writers Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim were hired to co-script the film with Berlanti.[21] Berlanti, Green and Guggenheim found it difficult writing the script because two of their drafts of the screenplay had been leaked on the Internet during the scripting phase. Guggenheim explained that the characterizations of the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams run on the comic in the 1970s, and Dave Gibbons' work in the early 1980s, will be portrayed in the film. The writers also took inspiration from the current Geoff Johns stories. "It’s been interesting because we finished a draft just before Secret Origin (ISBN 9781401219901), Geoff’s latest arc, started up," Guggenheim observed in June 2008. "So I’ve been reading Secret Origin with a real interest in seeing "OK, how did Geoff solve this problem?’ There are certain elements just for anyone trying to retell Hal’s origin for a modern day audience has to address and grapple with," he continued. "For example, why the hell was Abin flying in a space ship when he’s a Green Lantern? You don’t ask that question back in the Silver Age, but when you’re writing in the Modern Age, you have to answer these things."[22] The script also features Martin Jordan, Carl Ferris, Carol Ferris, Thomas Kalmaku, Tomar-Re, Abin Sur, Sinestro, Kilowog, the Guardians of the Universe, Legion and Hector Hammond as well as cameos by Guy Gardner and Clark Kent.[23] The story follows the original Hal Jordan/Green Lantern storyline, including the battle between Legion and Abin Sur, Abin Sur's crash landing on Earth, as well as the choosing of Hal Jordan over Guy Gardner and Clark Kent.[23] Some parts are drawn from the Emerald Dawn mini-series.[23] Pre-production By December 2008, the writers had written three drafts of the screenplay and Warner Bros. was preparing for pre-production.[24] However, Berlanti was forced to vacate the director's position due to scheduling conflicts with This Is Where I Leave You.[25] In February 2009 it was reported that Martin Campbell is set to direct the film, replacing Berlanti, who will instead produce alongside Donald De Line.[26] De Line stated in a recent interview that he hopes shooting will begin in Spring 2009.[27] However, later reports show filming to begin in mid-September.[28] In April 2009 it was reported that Warner Bros. has decided to shoot the film at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, and was given a $150 million budget, however as of October 2009 it will no longer be filmed in Australia but has instead moved the majority of first unit filming to Louisiana.[29] It was announced in July 2009 that Ryan Reynolds had been cast as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern.[2] In January 2010, visual effects supervisor Karen Goulekas stated on her blog that the film has just officially been green lighted and thus filming will start sometime in March.[30] It was also reported that Hal Jordan's love interest, Carol Ferris, would be played by Blake Lively. Carol ultimately will become the villain Star Sapphire, although there's no word whether there might be some hint of that in the first movie.[9] Later that same month, it was revealed that Peter Sarsgaard would portray Hector Hammond[11] and that Mark Strong was in negotiations to play Sinestro.[12] Also in January 2010 concept art for Kilowog, Abin Sur, and Tomar-Re surfaced. [31] On February 9, 2010 Tim Robbins joind the cast as Senator Hammond, the disapproving father of Hector Hammond.[14] On March 14, 2010, it was announced that Temuera Morrison and Taika Waititi had joined the cast as Abin Sur and Tom Kalmaku, respectively. [15] Filming On March 3, 2010 it was reported that test footage was filmed in Madisonville, Louisiana involving stunt cars.[35] Principal photography began on Monday March 15, 2010 in New Orleans.[36] It was reported on March 24, nine days after filming began, that Angela Bassett had joined the cast of Green Lantern. She will play Dr. Amanda Waller, a government agent who is a staple of the DC Comics series.[15] In April filming took place at the University of New Orleans Science Building, located on Founders Ave in New Orleans, LA. Though the majority of filming that took place were for interior scenes, the movie crew had local law enforcement and private security block off the entire building's perimeter from a few blocks away.[37] It was also reported that filming had taken place at the WDSU 6 news studio.[38] Later in April Jon Tenney revealed that he will play Hal Jordan's dad, test pilot Martin H. Jordan.[18] Filming began at New Orleans Lakefront Airport in May, 2010. Effects In an interview with MTV News, director Martin Campbell when asked about the film's effects-heavy epic scale commented; "It's daunting, just the process, (there are) something like 1,300 visual effects shots, it's mind-blowing, quite honestly".[34] When asked about the constructs created from the power rings Campbell stated; "One of the nice things is, we'll all sit down and say, 'Well, what are we going to do here?' Really, it's as much as your imagination can go to make the constructs".[35] The studio also confirmed to MTV News that the film will have a 3-D release.[36] Marketing According to Comics Continuum, an animated Green Lantern film is in the works at Warner Bros. Animation and will be part of a direct-to-video project that will be timed for release of the live-action Green Lantern movie in the summer of 2011. The Green Lantern animated project will likely take a look at the origins of the Green Lantern Corps, including the first ring wielders.[42] In an interview with Bruce Timm, the producer revealed that a sequel to the Green Lantern animated movie had been discussed but cancelled, along with a sequel to the Wonder Woman animated film, because of the two pictures not achieving the immediate success that they had hoped for. However, Timm did hope the live action film would renew interest in a sequel. [43] There has also been a lot of talk about a Green Lantern animated television series. When Geoff Johns was speaking at the Emerald City Comic-Con in 2010, he was asked about the series possiblity and said "There's a very, very good chance." [44] Sequel Director Martin Campbell has confirmed the possibility of seeing a Green Lantern trilogy during interviews for Edge of Darkness.[47] In June 2010, Warner Brothers studios hired Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim, all of whom worked on the Green Lantern screenplay, to write a treatment for the second installment. [48] Gallery Concept Art File:AbinSur&Tomar-Re.jpg File:Kilowog.jpg File:OanGuardians1.jpg File:OanGuardians2.jpg File:Sinestro.jpg 11063L.jpg 11064L.jpg 11065L.jpg 11066L.jpg 11067L.jpg 11069L.jpg 11905L.jpg Trivia *Greg Berlanti signed on to co-write and direct the film in 2007, but he stepped down to instead direct This Is Where I Leave You (2011) and handed direction over to Martin Campbell. However, he remained on board as a writer and producer. *In consideration for the lead role were Sam Worthington, Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake, Henry Cavill, Jared Leto Michael Fassbender, and Shawn Roberts. The role went to Ryan Reynolds. *Ryan Gosling was rumored for a while during the development stage to be the studio's leading candidate for Hal Jordan. *The casting of Ryan Reynolds creates the rare occasion of an actor who has both played a Marvel Comics and DC Comics superhero. *Chris Pine met with the casting director to discuss playing Hal Jordan. *Keri Russell, Eva Green, Jennifer Garner, Diane Kruger, and Blake Lively were on the final list to play Carol Ferris. The role went to Blake Lively. *Jackie Earle Haley was considered to play Sinestro. *At one point Clark Kent was in the script (he had a cameo as one of the candidates considered to receive a power ring), but this was cut out because the filmmakers didn't want to depend on another superhero for a success. *The scriptwriters drew inspiration from the Green Lantern comic "Emerald Dawn," which told the story of Hal Jordan's induction into the Green Lantern Corps and how he became its greatest member. *Peter Sarsgaard's casting as Hector Hammond marks him the third actor from Kinsey (2004) to appear as a character in a Warner Brothers DC Comics movie. The previous ones were Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard in Batman Begins (2005) and Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin in Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997). Sarsgaard's wife Maggie Gyllenhaal also appeared as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight (2008). *The city of Oa will be designed based on the Emerald City of Oz. *Comic book writer Geoff Johns, who has worked on the "Green Lantern" comic and made it a resounding success, was signed on as a creative consultant on the film. *Pierce Brosnan was considered for the role of Alan Scott. External links *Green Lantern - unofficial movie news source *Green Lantern IMDB *Green Lantern - Official DC Movie Universe Wiki 1 Category:Green Lantern (Movie)